A free offer

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

No, it's not a pill to solve erectile disfunction. And no, I don't want to offer you a low introductory credit card rate or possibly refinance your house for you. I want to offer you a chance to read a magazine I really enjoy.

I read On Spec, the Canadian Journal of the Fantastic, a terrific little magazine with quite stellar writing. The fact that they've rejected what might be the finest short-form piece of writing I've ever created is thoroughly beside the point. I received a letter in the mail from then not too long ago with an offer - they'll send a back issue of their magazine to anyone I'd like to introduce to On Spec. So, first come, first serve - someone come claim this free issue! You won't be disappointed, except that you won't find my name anywhere between their pages. Just email me your mailing address, etc., and I'll get this little thing out my door and to them in short order.

(Addendum: I can't promise, of course, that you won't be suddenly added to their mailing list and receive ads from On Spec. What I can tell you is that, at the bottom of this notice is a line saying "PRIVACY: We will not share this information with a soul", and I personally have never received unsolicited mail from On Spec, just my quarterly subscription and a renewal form after my last subscription expired. Your mileage may vary.)

~ Jayson

As NaNoWriMo approaches (and an apology of sorts)

Sunday, October 19, 2008

It's getting colder out, the leaves have fallen, and halloween goodies are on sale at Superstore. This can only mean one thing - NaNoWriMo approaches!

Both my readers (if they still exist) know what NaNoWriMo is, so I'll dispense with the explanation.

I struggled last year, mightily, to reach 50K. Were it not for a blind leap into soft YA sci-fi, I would have failed. I attempted a literary take on the cowboy novel, bringing in some fantastic elements but all in all remaining grounded in the western genre. The overwhelming problem I encountered was that I do no read, and have never read, a western novel. I've seen a few movies, and thought I could fudge my way through. There is a depth of genre knowledge that I lacked though, details on firearms and the work ability of a horse (or even horses in general). Details on what settlements looked like, which settlements actually existed, how people spoke, the role of women in society, how the turn of the century economy operated.... 25,000 uninspired words later I ditched and grasped onto that good ol' life preserver of mine, science fiction.

And that's right here I'm headed this year as well. I think. That's the plan so far, anyways. Noir-detective-near-future-dystopia something or other. I've been reading too much Phillip K. Dick lately. Of course, I just pushed my self to read Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland, and it set my head a-spinning with new ideas and new desires. I want to create characters in love. I want to make people realistic and believable and struggling to deal with complex, immense situations beyond their comprehension. And I want to do it in an organically growing story. I'll avoid the moralizing that plagues the end of Girlfriend, I think, or at least make it more neutral and toned down, but... well, this ear could be a mishmash of styles. I picked up George R. R. Martin's collection of short stories to read - should get through it by Halloween.

Okay.... some long-term updates....

1. No more pictures on this website. This is part of the reason why it was down for so long - I filled up my meagre 10MB allotted by Shaw with pictures, and needed to find a more permanent place to host my photography. So, I opted for Flickr. Come by, say Hi, add me if you like.
2. Gots me a new camera too, so the technical quality of my pictures should be improving. My photographic skills are improved somewhat as well, I'd like to think.
3. Um.... I'm sitting somewhere between 8-12 rejection letters for all of the short stories I've got circulating around. Actually, all of the stories have come to rest in the past months, since I'm not 100% motivated to continue shopping them around. Of course, November always sparks my writing habits, so I'm sure they'll come out of mothballs soon enough.

Hmmm... guess that's it for now. Sorry about the long break between posts. There - the apology portion. Gotta run - Mad Men is on the PVR and it's almost my turn to watch something. You are watching Mad Men, aren't you?

~ Jayson

The Edmonton Journal's "Saturday Serial Thriller"

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

This post isn't going to be a ringing endorsement of the Saturday Serial Thriller, by any measure of the word "endorsement". I don't think I'm elitist and snobby about what I read and write, but.... well, this whole "contest" is giving me a rash. Pardon me if I'm being snooty.

Okay, so here's a quick primer for those who either don't live in Edmonton, or do live in Edmonton but have no idea what that title means. The Edmonton Journal (local newspaper) is featuring a serial mystery novel in their pages, running every Saturday for eight weeks, with a new 1,000 word chapter each week. The first and last chapters will be written by author and U of A professor Thomas Wharton, and the in between chapters will be judged by three prominent Edmonton literary figures: the owners of Greenwoods and Audrey's (local independent book stores), and the Journal's Books Editor. The novel needs to be a mystery, and set in Edmonton. Okay, that's out of the way.

Here's where I start to have problems. Mr. Wharton's opening chapter wasn't much to write home about - technically, I suppose it's competent, but the writing itself leaves a lot to be desired. For example, there are two adverbs in the first three sentences. The diction is pretty simple, the prose utilitarian, the images trite and simplistic, and the characters wholly stock. Still, it has a promising start, and a key event that can lead off in many different directions, with enough ambiguity in the characters and possible plot points that something good could develop out of it. I was willing to let the substandard writing slide, since this isn't a literary journal but a public consumption printing where the masses can enjoy it over a Big Mac or double-double-with-a-cruller. I started to have problems as the weeks started to add up an the story got longer.

Issue one: the writing is pedestrian, and remains pedestrian. I never read a line that stands out in my mind, never once saw sentence construction that did anything to highlight the story, never read a bit of dialogue that inspired or intrigued me whatsoever. We're on week six right now, so five other authors other than Mr. Wharton, have taken their swings at this. Several belong to a local writing group, apparently. I'm not certain if the editors or judges of this contest are intentionally seeking out Harrison Bergeron levels of mediocrity and sameness, but they're certainly achieving it.

Issue two: the characters are inconsistent, simplistic, and unformed. As each author only gets 1,000 words, you have to keep dialogue to a minimum in order to jam some plot into your chapter. I get that. Still, the dialogue and character exposition that is there is trite and unbelievable. We are meant to sympathize with the main character simply because she is a single mother whose husband left her, and we are seeing her at the beginning of her new career as a private investigator. I never once got the feeling that she was nervous about this assignment she found herself on, never got the impression that her husband leaving her was anything other than a macguffin to get another character into the story with some tenuously believable relationship with the main character. The antagonists are even shallower, hardly more than toast sweat on a cool countertop, and are painted broadly by the main characters quick assumptions about them. Okay, all that tackles simplistic and unformed. Inconsistent is perhaps the byproduct of many different writers handling the same characters without a lot of editorial assistance to help them along. In one chapter, Emmy (the main character) is a strong, judicious, persistent woman. In the next, she loses a bit of strength but increases her emotional levels. Even within chapters, there is a fair bit of inconsistency; her husband makes strong threats to make sure his daughter isn't brought into the shady happenings, then lets his wife haul their daughters unconscious body out to the car herself. I see these character problems as major, and the result of many writers all trying to tackle the same characters in a too-limited space.

Issue three: too much timidity on the part of the writers. I read each chapter, and we are slowly get closer and closer to the finale, and nothing is happening. Each successive chapter introduces a red herring or plot thread, and then ends in a minor cliffhanger. Rinse, lather, repeat. No one has any idea how the story is going to turn out, and no one wants to make a decision or start to knot up some of these threads, so they all play hands off with the plot. Hey hey, hot potato coming through, somebody else's turn now! This issue falls partly on the format of the contest (there's only so much plot you can jam into 1,000 words) partly on the judges (though I assume they are picking the best of that particular weeks submissions, and at least a few of those must try and drive the plot a little bit), but I lay most of it on the writers themselves. No one is taking responsibility for the story, not even for the small part they are writing. I can just imagine the thought process that went on in their heads each week... "Oh look, here's a little tidbit I can add, this scene sounds like it'll be intriguing, hmmm, 900 words already, well time for a cliffhanger!" It would be refreshing to see someone try and tackle a few of these plot threads, especially as we drive into the closing chapters of the book. Don't be timid and leave it up to Mr. Wharton. Be assertive! Empower your characters! Drive back the cobwebs and write a little plot!

Issue four: the format of the contest. In my opinion, 1,000 words is a too-tight shackle on the writers. How does the Journal expect them to write anything substantial in just that little bit of time? Most of these chapters probably could be expanded to 3,000 or more, just with a little more dialogue and exposition, and maybe a few literary tricks to jazz up the whole affair. Plus, only 8 chapters (plus Mr. Wharton's two) isn't much of a tale, especially at 1,000 words per chapter. It's more like an episode of Law & Order, edited so that the football game afterwards can start a few minutes early so the NBC sports talking heads can chirp for a few extra minutes.

That's about it for my major issues. I was going to make a submission for week seven, but all of these issues just dragged me down too much. What kind of cred will it give me to have a chapter published in this serial when the results are so dreadful? Why jump through the hoops of condensing a truly excellent chapter (not that I'm sure I would be able to make an excellent chapter, but one can be hopeful) into a too small space? Why wrangle with the plot and try to untangle a few threads if the judges are content to wait for the pro to come in ant the end and unravel them all himself?

Go ahead and read it if you like. There's worse things you could do on your coffee break. There are certainly better things, though.

~ Jayson

The most absurd list I've ever read

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Behold! Modern Library's List of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century.

There's nothing particularly absurd about the existence of such a list - Lord knows the internet is simply filthy with best-of lists. The Boards List isn't even that ridiculous. Sure I haven't read more than a scant handful of the books on it, but I recognize a great many of the titles and find myself desirous of them, wishing to place hands on their supple covers only to break them open to devour the tender bits in between. The list might be seen as elitist and high brow, but we are talking about the greatest literature from an entire century. I'll not quibble with The Board on their list.

I will take issue with The Reader's List, however. Ayn Rand in places one, two, seven and eight? Okay, alright, I'll give that to you though she seems a little highly weighted towards the top considering the fantastic books out there, but Ms. Rand did write some important and influential works. Do all four deserve to be in the top 10? No, but again, I'll not bicker. My quibble begins at number three. Battlefield Earth? Are you entirely serious? Three of the top ten novels of the twentieth century were penned by L. Ron Hubbard? Is there a tailpipe nearby that I can wrap my lips around? The simple fact of these two lists is that the Boards Top 10 novels don't all appear on the Reader's list. Many of them do, oftentimes reduced to significantly lower positions while The Hunt for Red October places 81st.

I thought it a telling point that on the Boards list, SF&F was an absolute rarity, while it is well represented on the Readers list. Again though, I find reason to quibble. Seven Robert Heinlein books appear on the list, but not a single Asimov or Dick or LeGuin? Cormac McCarthy appears twice, but Kipling not at all?

The two lists couldn't even agree on which Salman Rushdie novel was greater, Midnight's Children or The Satanic Verses. Oh well. At least the Reader's found a space in their heart for Margaret Atwood, though I don't know if The Handmaiden's Tale would be her greatest work, let alone one of the greatest of the 20th century.

File this under more proof that the internet is full of people with far too much time on their hands. I mean, come on! Charles de Lint appears eight times on the readers list! And GGK doesn't even get an asterisk at the bottom of the list. Heresy, I say.

~ Jayson

So fresh & so clean

Friday, June 01, 2007

Mmmm, yum. New version of Rapidweaver (the software I built and maintain my website with). Up to 3.6, the first paid upgrade in awhile. If you're a Mac user and have a desire for a webpage of your very own, go grab it. It'll make you feel good inside.

Speaking of fresh and clean, the yard is mowed, and the water is on. Anyone in and around Edmonton is feeling the heat right now, and I'm not feeling quite as fresh and clean any more. I'm not a heat person - I can handle it, but between heat and bitter cold, I'll complain about the heat each and every time. When it's cold, you can always put more clothes on to be warm. When it's 30 degrees Canadian outside, there's just no excape without air conditioning.

Also on the fresh and clean theme, the chapter one rewrite is going well. I'm realizing I'm going to have to basically rewrite both the first chapter and significantly shuffle around events between one and two, but all is right in the world. I have a plan, and it shall come to fruition in due course. I figure another week or two of editing and rewriting, then I'll find myself two or three people I know who are very close readers, and that I can trust. I've got a few in mind, but if there is anyone outthere that is willing to take a close look at a relatively short manuscript an offer sage advice and concise critiques, let me know. Those select people will have the pleasure of my work for the whole long month of July whilst I flit around the Mediterranian.

Getting opinions is like pulling doberman teeth...

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

... you're never quite sure when you'll be successful and when you'll have your hand bitten off.

I joined the Hatrack River Writers Workshop, an online writing critique group start by (so far as I can tell) Orson Scott Card, and operated as an extension of his own webpage. It is an interesting community, and a teriffic idea as it seems Mr. Card is quite devoted to teaching his art to all who wish to learn it. I've had mixed sucess thus far, both in obtaining critiques and giving them. I'm not sure if this is inherent in online critique groups, or just this particular one (or just this particular batch of members). I have a feeling it is pretty endemic of online critique groups as a whole.

For starters, there is no way to know the qualifications of people either you are critiquing or are critiquing you. Some write their opinions quite eloquently, making firm reasoned decisions and offering canny advice. Others are either oblivious to the real issues in a piece or are incessantly nitpicky. The quality of their critiques doesn't carry over to the quality of their own work either. generally, I find the level of writing to be poor - though I attribute that to a large percentage of the members being sub-college and still immature in their writing style. I don't mean to say that I haven't had any good opinions come from Hatrack, just that they are generally few and far between, and it can be difficult to determine who has game and who is hanging around hoping to just get a little court time.

So, I've decided to be very honest in my critiques - if it's bad, if it's severly technically flawed, I'll call a spade a spade. If the idea is good but the delivery atrocious, or vice versa, I'll call that too. I don't think that there really can be any other productive way of critiquing. I also believe that, if you are asking for an opiion and someone is providing you with one, that you should not be arguing with them about it. Accept the critique for what it is, and decide on your own if I'm full of road apples or not. I recently had my head bitten off for debating the proper use of a semicolon. I wanted to argue more, wanted to rebuke the personal attacks I read, but honestly, no one wins in this situation. The kicker of the whole thing, though, is that I was debating proper semicolon use with a freelance journalist with multiple newspaper publications, and a few poetry and short story credits to her name. One would think that after all of that experience you would know that a semicolon is not used to denote rhythm or meter into your prose, but is used to join two separate but related clauses without having to resort to using a conjunction or break the readers attention with a full stop.

Sorry, that's my rant. It's been on my mind for the past day and a bit. Both Planet Earth & The Historian are going swimmingly. The new first chapter is taking shape as well - I'm quite impressed with it myself, but then again, I suppose I would have to be, no?

~ Jayson

Oi Paloi! It's been a whole week!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Note to self: must be more punctual and regular on here.

Back to the thoughts at hand.... I ran across a new blog today that piqued my interest. Miss Snark. Of course, as luck would have it, it was retired just a few days ago after being active for more than two years, but I'm catching up on the archives which thankfully will remain available. To give you the short version, Miss Snark is an NYC literary agent, writing anonymously of course, offering advice, opinion, and general thoughts in a manner that can only be described as... snarky. Well, of course there are other ways of describing her tone, but snarky fits and I'll stick with that.

It did get me thinking about the publishing industry a bit, though. I've got a completed novel, 60,000 words, my NaNoWriMo progeny that is about 60% edited. I think it's pretty good, though it'll probably need at least one more draft after this first edit I'm going through. I have a small problem with the genre, though. I've thought about it, contorted and twisted my mind, but I can not escape the fact that it is a science fiction novel. Not distant future on far-flung planets, not a space opera with the typical archetypes vying for space on the page, nothing like that. It's a near future dystopia that attempts to explore the morality of cloning and the definition of life. It sounds kind of high and lofty, but I think it's pretty grounded with a decent plot, intriguing setting, solid characters, and interesting things going on. Much as I might try and reshape it in my mind, work a little literary origami, the story is science fiction, no two ways about it.

Now, I'm mostly at peace with this fact. The story is what it is, and I write the stories that come to me, regardless of genre. Last years NaNoWriMo (still uncompleted) was more of a contemporary story, and my next project will likely be the same, but I really like my novel and want to try and take it to market. This is where I'm hitting the speed bumps. From reading Miss Snark, and looking on the net for Canadian literary agents, I've noticed a very common phrase - "No genre fiction", or "Does not accept Sci-fi, Fantasy, or other genre fiction". Is being a genre writer mean you are exiled to the genre ghetto? Does writing genre as a first novel consign you to an eternity in the genre section? Would the literary establishment accept a genre writer into their ranks down the road? Or would there forever be stares and murmured conversations - "He's one of those... yes they'll let anyone in these days... last book was published by Tor? Oh for God's sake, look busy, he's heading this way..."

I have the distinct feeling that I'm being oversensitive here. Getting published at all increased the chances of being published again - you've proven that your stuff is good enough to be sold, and hopefully purchased by a respectable number of readers. I know that there are authors who ride both sides of the fence, or who make a solid career out of genre material. Hell, I'm sure GGK, who is most definitely genre though he transcends it to a degree, would be welcomed with open arms into the literary establishment. I've met him. It looks like he would belong there. I'm still a little shocked by the lack of Canadian agents accepting genre lit. I'd like to be able to get into a market somewhat bigger than a regional publisher. I suppose I'll have to take a look at American agents, see if there are any agents handling genre materials that are accepting Canadian submissions. It really can't be that bloody hard - Chapters Sci-fi & Fantasy section isn't exactly small. Okay Jay... pause, deep breath, stop obsessing.

Oh, one last note... just got a copy of the BBC's doc Planet Earth on the weekend. The original with David Attenborough's narration. Absolutely splendid so far. I'll come back with a full review once I've completed the whole series.

~ Jayson